Bed device for moving patients



May 21, 1968 R. UNDERWOOD BED DEVICE FOR MOVING PATIENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed March 5, 1967 D, W a/li lz lifll May 21, 1968 R. UNDERWOOD BEDDEVICE FOR MOVING PATIENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet :2.

Filed March I5, 1967 United States Patent 3,383,717 BED DEVICE FORMOVING PATIENTS Raymond Underwood, Cleveland, Tex., assignor of one-halfto Opal M. Underwood, Cleveland, Tex. Filed Mar. 3, 1967, Ser. No.620,393 4 Claims. (Cl. 61)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This application describes a bed attachmentfor care of bedridden persons and is based upon a construction whichadjusta'bly secures an angle iron to each of the four corner posts of abed. Other adjustable tie members and shafts mounted on the angle ironsconvert the angle irons into a rigid structure which may support thepatient independently of the spring and bed frame. Shafts which extendone on each side of the bed are rotatable and can hold bed sheetstherebetween on which the bed occupant may be lifted or turned byappropriate rotation of the shafts. A similar head or foot end shaft maymove the bed occupant longitudinally.

This invention relates to a bed attachment which facilitates moving,lifting and otherwise caring for bedridden persons like invalids orpatients. More particularly this invention relates to an attachmentadapted for use with beds having a head-board, or a footboard or both.

It is an object of this invention to provide a patient lifting andmoving structure which may be detachably connected to most beds withoutrequiring structural modification of the bed.

It is another object of the invention to provide a bed attachment whichpermits shifting the patient about in the bed as from one side to theother, or from back to side, and which also permits raising the patientabove the mattress level to permit bed linen to be changed readily.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a patient moving andlifting attachment for beds which includes an improved means forsecuring thereto the sheet on which the patient rests.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide means for securinga split sheet to the moving and lifting attachment.

In achievement of these objectives the present patient moving andlifting attachment includes four angle iron members, one for each of thefour corner supports of a bed. The angle members are constructed witharcuate cutout recesses which serve to support therein a pair ofparallel shafts extending longitudinally, one at each bed side. Theopposed longitudinal side edges of the bed sheet are secured to each ofthe parallel shafts by a rod disposed in a hollowed out slot on theshaft surface. Crank members received in shaped openings at the shaftends may selectively rotate the shaft members to lift one or bothlongitudinal side edges of the sheet, causing the patient to be turnedor lifted appropriately.

In addition, the angle members at each post have mounted thereon supportbrackets which receive and rotatably support a shaft transverselyextending across the head or foot of the bed. This transverselyextending shaft may have secured thereto an auxiliary sheet so thatrotation of the transverse shaft may serve to shift the patientlongitudinally of the bed.

An important advantage of the present structure is that all thecomponents of the present accessory structure are mounted only on thefour angle members, including any bracing elements needed to form arigid structure. Other advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent 3,383,717 Patented May 21, 1968 "ice from the more detailedfollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a bed equipped with the patient movingand lifting attachment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective of the head of a bed with thedevice in place but without sheets for moving and lifting a patientshown;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary end view of one of the angularsupport members with rotating means in place;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary cross section taken on the line 55 of FIGURE3;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentray perspective of one of the supportbrackets for holding rod rotating means;

FlGURES 7, 8 and 9 are fragmentary perspective views of the rods andlocking devices for rolling the sheets on; and

FIGURE 10 is a section through FIGURE 9.

Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to FIGURE 1, there isshown a hospital type bed 10 having a head end member 14 and a foot endmember 16. At each corner of the bed is mounted an angle iron 18 formedwith a plurality of spaced apart cutouts 22 on one flange 20. The otherflange 24 of angle 18 is essentially blank, being provided only withsome drilled holes for attaching certain component elements onto angleiron 18. As shown in the drawing the angle irons 18 are mounted on thefour corner posts with apertured flanges 20 face to face lengthwise ofbed 10 and blank flanges 24 face to face across the foot end and headend of bed 10.

Angle irons 18 are secured without damage to the bed structure, bybolting fiat tie pieces 28 to the back face of the apertured flange 20.These tie pieces 28 extend inside head end 14 and foot end 16 of bed 10as is shown in the drawing. For greater stability a pair of tie pieces28 are provided at both head and foot of bed 10 with the lower tiepieces resting on side frame member 26. Cooperating with tie pieces 28are angle pieces 30 each of which is bolted at its slotted leg 32 to theback face of a flange 24-. The other leg 34 of angle 30 extends parallelto tie pieces 28, being spaced therefrom a distance equal to width ofthe head end member 14 or foot end member 16 as the case may be. Theactual distance between tie piece 28 and angle 30 is determined by theadjustment of the angle piece in its slot attachment to flange 24. Inconsequence head end member 14 and foot end member 16 are securelyclamped between the flat faces of angle piece leg 34 and tie piece 28.To avoid marring or disfiguring the headboard and foot-board a plasticbumper 36 may be wrapped around the angle leg 34 and a similar bumperaround the tie piece 28. Reinforcing rigidity for the four associatedangle irons 18 may be provided by mounting rail 40 on the blank face offlanges 24 across the top of the head end member 14 and foot end member16 as is shown in the drawings.

Since bed It) and its component parts like headboard 14 and footboard 16come in varying sizes, an important aspect of the present structureresides in its provision for substantial adjustment to fit different bedsizes. An adjustment is provided for bed width in the length of tiepieces 28 by forming tie pieces 28 as an adjustable composite structureof two tie piece segments 27 and 29. One tie segment e.g. 27 is slottednear its juncture with the other tie segment 29 (suitably by a four inchslot) and the other tie segment 29 is provided with a multiplicity ofbolt holes (e.g. two). The variable over-lap provided by the slot-bolthole connection provides an adjustment of several inches which isadequate for the usual variation in width bed-to-bed. In like fashionrails 40 may be adjustable-length composite members joined e.g. bycouplings 42 as is shown in the drawing.

It may be seen in the drawing how flange 24 of angle irons 18 face eachother across the foot and the head end of the beds, while flanges 2%face each other longitudinally of the bed with cut-out arcuate slots 22opposed so that a pair of longitudinally extending shafts 44 may beremovably mounted for rotation on angle irons 18 in the arcuate portionsof cut-out 22 of flanges 29. Additional flexibility is provided bypresence of the multiple cut-outs 22, three being illustrated on eachangle iron.

The detailed construction of siaft 44 and its mounting for rotation .inthe flange arcuate portion 45 is shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. A circularrotatable bearing (e.g. nylon) rests on the flange material at arcuateportion 46. In turn, bearing 5%) is held in predetermined positionlongitudinally of shaft 44 by a pair of flanged retainer rings 52 whoseopposed flanges 5 2- serve to further retain shaft 44 longitudinally inposition relative to the flanges 20'. Rings 52 are held onto shaft 44 byset screws or some other fashion which permits releasable engagement andlongitudinal movement on the shaft 44. Freedom of movementlongitudinally of the shaft is important since it permits the shaft 44to be relatively oversized so that it might fit varying bed sizes.Adjustment of retaining rings 52 on shaft 44 and therewith bearing 50permits a perfect lit for each bed.

As may be seen also in the drawing the retainer ring flanges 54 areprovided with a plurality of spaced apart circular apertures 56 (FIGURE3). Apertures 56 are sized to fit a locking pin 58 and with locking pin53 in place in opposed apertures 56, the shaft assembly as a whole canno longer rotate in arcuate portion 46.

The ends of shaft 44 are each provided with a. square key slot 60 sothat a crank 62. may be inserted therein to rotate shaft 44.

As may be seen also from FIGURES 7, 8, 9 and an elongated recess or slot64 is provided in the outer surface of the shaft 44 and rod 66 isdisposed therein. Rod 66 may extend the entire length of shaft 44 or asa preferred alternative is a split rod with two half-sized rods 67 and69 resting in recess 54. Adjacent each terminal end of shaft 44 is alocking ring 68 containing a threaded opening adapted for a set screwwhich then serves to lock ring 68 onto shaft 44 and at the same timealso to lock rod 66 (or alternatively half rod 67 and 69) in recess 64.

For moving a patient longitudinally of the bed, a transversely disposedshaft 44, constructed like longitudinal shafts 44, is mounted forrotation in bearing supports 70 (shown in FIGURE 6) on the flanges atone end of bed 10, with a rotatable circular bearing 72 resting on thematerial of supports 70 (shown in FIGURE 7). If desired retainer rings52 may also be provided to fix the position of bearing 72 on transverserotatable shaft 44. FIGURE 1 illustrates crank 62 mounted in transverseshaft 44 for rotation thereof causing longitudinal movement of theattached sheet. 76 serves a purpose similar to ring 68.

It can be seen from the foregoing that there is provided in accordancewith this invention an attachment for hospital beds and the like whichmay be easily attached to a hospital bed, and, in fact, to almost anybed having posts at the four corners thereof. The attachment of theinvention permits the sheet or the like underlying the patient to bewound onto one of the longitudinal shafts to move the patient from sideto side or from his back to his side, and also permits the sheet orother flexible member to be entirely raised above the level of themattress to permit changing of the underlying linens on the bed. Theattachment mechanism also includes means for shifting the patientlongitudinally along the bed. It can be seen, therefore, that thestructure hereinbefore described has great utility and practical value.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of theinvention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications may be made therein without departing from theinvention, and, therefore, it is aimed to cover all such changes andmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A patient moving and lifing attachment for a bed comprising separateangle irons adapted to be mounted on each corner support of a bed, meanssecuring each angle iron to its corner support, said securing meanscomprising a pair of cooperating members mounted on said angle ironserving to clamp the corner support therebetween, each angle iron havinga cut-out slot in one flange thereof adapted to receive and supporttherein the end portion of a shaft; a pair of parallel, longitudinalshafts respectively extending on each side of the bed, rotatablysupported above the mattress level in said flange slots, each of saidshafts including means for detachably receiving a rotating means indriving relation thereto; and a flexible, sheet-like patient supportingmember detachably connected along its opposite longitudinal edges to thetwo longitudinal shafts on opposite sides of the bed, each longitudinalshaft having a longitudinally extended hollowed out slot in the surfacethereof, a rod member disposed in said slot and a releasable lockingelement adjacent each end of said shaft for locking said rod againstrotation in said slot.

2. An attachment as in claim 1 wherein said rod is split at the centerthereof and a coupling member is disposed centrally of said shaft, saidcoupling member having a releasable locking element for each half ofsaid split rod.

3. A patient moving and lifting attachment for a bed comprising separateangle irons adapted to be mounted on each corner support of a bed, meanssecuring each angle iron to its corner support, said securing meanscomprising a pair of cooperating members mounted on said angle ironserving to clamp the corner support therebetween, each angle iron havinga cut-out slot in one flange thereof adapted to receive and supporttherein the end portion of a shaft; a pair of parallel, longitudinalshafts respectively extending on each side of the bed, rotatablysupported above the mattress level in said flange slots, each of saidshafts including means for detachably receiving a rotating means indriving relation thereto; and a flexible, sheet-like patient supportingmember detachably connected along its opposite longitudinal edges to thetwo longitudinal shafts on opposite sides of the bed, a bearing and alocking structure removably mounted adjacent each end of thelongitudinal shafts, said structure including a rotatable bearingelement resting on the cut-out in said flange, retaining means formaintaining said bearing element in fixed position relative to saidshaft, and locking means for holding said shaft against undesiredrotation.

4. An attachment as in claim 3 wherein the retaining means constitute aflanged sleeve on each side of said bearing element, matched spacedapart apertures in the flanges of said sleeves and a locking pin adaptedto be engaged in the apertures and to serve as the locking means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 545,741 9/1895 Shutters 5-88970,357 9/1910 Segesman et al. 5-89 X 1,487,150 3/1924 Deakins 5-84 X3,108,290 10/1963 Partridge 5-86 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

